EJ Manuel, Bills Rally to Upend Panthers

For just over 58 minutes, E.J. Manuel was solid but unspectacular. Then, the spectacular came.

The rookie first round pick orchestrated a nine-play, 80-yard drive, capped by a 2-yard touchdown pass to Stevie Johnson with 2 seconds left to give the Bills a 24-23 win over the Panthers on Sunday. Manuel displayed veteran poise on the game-winning drive, completing 6 of 8 passes for 51 yards, shaking off turnovers on Buffalo’s previous two drives.

Veteran running back Fred Jackson (12 carries, 30 yards, 1 touchdown) was impressed, but not surprised by his young quarterback’s performance.

“It’s got to be huge for him, but the one thing about him is that he’s shown poise like that since he got here,” Jackson said amid the postgame locker room celebration. “We had all the confidence in the world in him and he just proved us right. Hopefully we can continue to work and get better.”

It was a finish that hadn’t been seen at Ralph Wilson Stadium since, well, last week, when Tom Brady led his 36th career fourth quarter comeback to help New England edge the Bills, 23-21.

Manuel finished the game 27 of 39 for 296 yards and two touchdowns. His 7.59 yards per attempt was a full two yards better than a week ago (5.56).

Manuel’s first professional victory was extra special: It was his father’s birthday.

“This football right here (is his gift). I didn’t have a gift,” Manuel joked after the game. “My dad’s not big on gifts anyways. I know he’ll definitely want to take this home. Even if I didn’t want to give it to him, he’d be taking it home anyways.”

Manuel’s heroics overshadowed a dominating performance by defensive end Mario Williams. The much-maligned $100 million man spent much of the afternoon in the Carolina backfield, sacking Panthers quarterback Cam Newton 4.5 times, a feat matched only three times in Bills history (twice by Bruce Smith and once by Cornelius Bennett). Williams added a team-high four quarterback hits.

Williams admitted that Sunday was his favorite game as a Bill.

“I don’t think I’ve felt that way in the last five years, so that’s great. I finally feel like I’m at peace just as a person,” he said.

The win was important for Buffalo, splitting its first two games before heading to New Jersey for a winnable game against the Jets. Moreover, it was a confidence builder – some may go as far as to call it a culture changer – for a young team with a new coach and quarterback.

Said first-year coach Doug Marrone, “It’s good to get the first one, but I think one of the main things is when you talk about winning and you talk about changing the culture, you talk during the week about what you have to do and what you have expect to win.”

“I started crying there. I’m not usually an emotional guy,” remarked Manuel. “I want to enjoy those types of things because that’s what you’re (here for), I’m going to be able to tell my grandkids about that 20 to 30 years from now. It’s definitely a momentous part of my young career but moving forward I’m glad we got the win and we have to get ready for New York (Jets) now.”

C.J. Spiller finished the game with 16 carries and 103 yards, 46 of which came on a key scamper down the right sideline in the fourth quarter. Johnson caught eight balls for 111 yards and the hysteria-unleashing touchdown.

For Carolina, Newton went 21 of 38 for 229 yards and two touchdowns, a 13-yarder to Greg Olsen and a 40-yarder to Ted Ginn Jr. Olsen paced the team in receiving (7-84) while DeAngelo Williams accrued 85 yards on 22 attempts.

The Panthers head home to take on the Giants next Sunday.